PM Modi, Trump may meet at ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur amid tariff tensions

India Today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may meet US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, scheduled for October 26th and 27th.

Transcript

00:00And we have big breaking news coming in right now.

00:03Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Donald Trump, could they be meeting soon?

00:08And that too in Kuala Lumpur.

00:09It seems Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump may meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur,

00:19which is being held later this month.

00:22Now, Prime Minister Modi is definitely scheduled to travel to Malaysia for the 47th ASEAN summit.

00:27Now, that will be on October 26th and 27th.

00:32Now, Malaysia has also invited President Donald Trump to attend the ASEAN summit.

00:38The big question is, if President Donald Trump travels to Malaysia, if he chooses to make that travel and that trip,

00:46this would be first multilateral meeting where both the leaders will be participating

00:53after 50% tariffs were imposed against India and since they came into force.

01:00This will be a very, very crucial meeting where the two leaders might come face to face.

01:08Now, Trump and Prime Minister Modi could not meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada between 15th to 17th of June.

01:17Earlier this year, remember, Trump had to fly back early.

01:21There was an imminent attack on Iran that he was planning for.

01:25Of course, at that time, it was not clear why he had left early.

01:29But the meeting that was scheduled between Trump and Modi at that point of time was then later turned into a phone call.

01:39This was during the G7 summit.

01:41So, the two leaders could not meet at that point of time.

01:45And the meeting between these two leaders is extremely crucial for both those countries.

01:50India is currently trying to minimize the impact of the tariffs and the penalty that Trump and his government has imposed on India.

02:02Whereas Trump also seeks support from India as far as his many plans are concerned,

02:08whether they are the Gaza peace plans or the Ukraine peace deal,

02:13India will be playing a crucial role in all of these things.

02:17Joining us now is Pranay Upadhyay of the India Today Global.

02:23Pranay, tell us, this is extremely important.

02:26If the two leaders actually meet, this would be a huge deal for both the leaders as well as the countries.

02:33Indeed, Anjali, this is going to be big if both the leaders attend the ASEAN summit

02:37because the Malaysian side is yet to get the confirmation from the White House.

02:41But there is a possibility because the invitation has already been extended to the White House

02:46for U.S. President Donald Trump's participation at the ASEAN summit.

02:50The 47th ASEAN summit is being held in Kuala Lumpur.

02:53Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also scheduled to visit ASEAN for the India ASEAN summit

02:58as well as the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur on 26th and 27th of October 2025.

03:05And then there is a possibility of both these leaders if they are there on the ASEAN summit on the sidelines

03:11because we have seen that, you know, whenever both the leaders of India and United States

03:16participated in the multilateral meeting, they always took a chance.

03:20They always, you know, had either a pull-aside meeting or some bilateral meeting.

03:24There is always an engagement.

03:25So there is a possibility, there is a likelihood.

03:27And if that meeting happens, this is going to be a big meeting

03:29because post-Operation Sindur, post-tariff standoff,

03:33this is going to be a first window of, a first opportunity of both these leaders

03:37to come face-to-face, have an engagement

03:39because both these leaders have recognized their, you know,

03:42each other's contribution in building up the relationship.

03:45Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump had praised each other,

03:49you know, via social media.

03:51There has been a phone call as well.

03:53U.S. President Donald Trump called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi

03:56on 16th of September on the eve of Prime Minister Modi's birthday

03:59and congratulated him, wished him a birthday wish.

04:03And therefore, this is going to be the first opportunity to come face-to-face

04:07and talk out and iron out the differences

04:10as far as the mutual, the bilateral ties are concerned, Anjali.

04:14Thank you very much for those details, Pranay.

04:16So it will be interesting to see whether Trump accepts that invitation

04:21because earlier we have seen him targeting BRICS and other Asian organizations.

04:26So it seems Prime Minister Modi and Donald Trump could be meeting

04:40and this meeting could happen on the sidelines of ASEAN summit

04:45which is supposed to be held in Kuala Lumpur.

04:48Remember, they were earlier meant to meet at the G7 summit

04:53but that meeting could not materialize as Donald Trump had to fly back early

04:59but they did have a phone call at that point of time between the two leaders.

05:03But despite all the efforts from India's side

05:06and from the negotiating team of America,

05:09it seemed India was targeted with tariffs

05:12and not just tariffs but also a penalty for buying the Russian oil and energy.

05:18And now, could this be a possibility for Prime Minister Modi and Donald Trump

05:25to meet, reconnect, rekindle the relationship they had

05:29and maybe there might be some change in the relationship and trade between the two countries.

05:36Joining me once again is Pranay Upathiai of India Today Global.

05:40Pranay, you know, Trump is not very sympathetic towards organizations

05:47that talk about the furthering of interest of South Asian countries

05:52or for that matter, Asia.

05:53In fact, he has targeted BRICS again and again,

05:56said that they want to replace dollar

05:58and he has said that BRICS shouldn't be there.

06:01Do you think ASEAN is something that would be on his radar

06:05or he would be happy to attend a summit like ASEAN

06:09because he does want to extend his influence,

06:13his personal influence all over the Asian continent as well?

06:20Anjali, there are two, three important arguments

06:22to support the possibility of President Donald Trump

06:24visiting East Asia, South Asia for the ASEAN summit.

06:28One, President Donald Trump has given importance,

06:31he gives importance to the Indo-Pacific policy,

06:34India, Indo-Pacific policy as well as

06:37he has already worked out the bilateral FTAs

06:40or bilateral agreements, the trade agreements

06:43with ASEAN countries.

06:44If you see the example of Vietnam,

06:47the country with whom U.S. entered among the first countries

06:51to have a tariff or a trade arrangement with the United States.

06:54Besides that, he has already done, you know,

06:56trade agreements with Indonesia

06:58after much of back and forth.

07:01And with the other countries as well,

07:02beat Cambodia, beat Thailand, beat, you know, Malaysia.

07:05All these countries have already worked out

07:07the tariff arrangements with the United States.

07:09And there is a possibility of President Donald Trump

07:12coming to East Asia because he thinks

07:15that this is another region which he hasn't,

07:17you know, visited in a while.

07:20And also, too, if he has to counter the Chinese influence,

07:24if he has to counter the Chinese, you know,

07:27area of, penetrating the area of influence of China,

07:30ASEAN summit or the ASEAN region is the area

07:33or region of prominence for the United States

07:35as far as the Indo-Pacific policy is concerned.

07:37Now, if there is a meeting between Prime Minister Modi

07:42and President Donald Trump,

07:43we are yet to see, we do not know as yet

07:45because there is a possibility, there is a window

07:47and both the leaders will try and capitalize this window

07:51to work out their differences

07:52because this meeting, this, you know,

07:55this event, ASEAN summit comes

07:57at a very crucial juncture

07:58because the deadline set for the bilateral trade agreement

08:01which is the fall of 2025 is also due to expire.

08:04So, there is a possibility where both leaders

08:07sit across each, you know, with each other

08:10and work out the differences

08:12and how to take forward

08:13because, remember, President Donald Trump

08:15has posted on social media

08:16saying that very soon,

08:18India and United States are going to conclude

08:20the bilateral trade agreement.

08:23Absolutely.

08:24And it is important for the two countries

08:26to work on this

08:27because it damages the interests of both the countries.

08:30Thank you very much, Pranay,

08:31for this news update.

08:34So, it seems there is a possibility

08:36that Donald Trump and Prime Minister Modi would meet

08:39and all eyes would be on this meeting.

08:42If this meeting happens,

08:43it could be crucial for India's,

08:46the tariffs that have been imposed on India.

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